Bottle-capping machine.



T. J. LEVBY. BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1911. 1,027,262, Patented May 21, 1912 5 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

T. J. LEVEY. BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION TILED Mua, 1911. 1 27,2 2, Patented May 21, 1912.

' 5 SHEETS-SHEET 2. I;

' T. J. LEVBY.

BOTTLE GAPPING MAGEINE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 8, 1911.

' Patented May 21, 19.12.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3 T. J. LEVEY. BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1911. 1

Patented May 21, 1912.

l z Z7 UNITED srAT s PATENT ore-Ion.-

THOMAS J. LEVEY, OFBALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

sorr nnoarrme MACHINE.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. Lever, a

citizen of the United States, residing at lowing to be a full, clear, and exact descrip tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichiitapper tains to make and use the same. This inventlon relates to bottle capping machines, and has for its object to produce amachine of this character which willautoinatically cap bottles of diiferent lengths without crushing the same, and one whichwill be more efiicient in operation and less expensive to construct than those heretofore proposed.

To these ends the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to-the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which like numerals refer to like parts in all the views :-Figure 1 is 'a view in elevation of a machine built in accordance withmy in vention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the power shaft and its clutch connections; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 2 and illustrating the cam for operating the trip pinyFig. 4 is a detail sectional-view of the parts shown in Fig. 3,,but in a different position; Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 5-5 of F ig. 4; Fig. 6 is a top plan viewof the parts shown in Fig. 4; Fig.7 is a perspective view illustrating the cam action of the clutch operating member; F ig.

8 is a sectional view of the capping head; Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are detail elevational views 0f-certain parts of the capping head; Fig. 12 is a view similar to Fig. 8, but showing the'parts' in a difierent'position; Figs. 13 and 14 are detail views illustrating the parts shown in Fig. -12 in still other positions;

Fig. 15 is a sectional view of the bottle rest o'r-support; Fig. 16 is a view taken on the line 1616 of Fig. 15; Fig. 17 is a view takenon the line 17'17 of l ig. 15; and, Fig. 18 is an elevational view of the bottle rest detached from its support.

1 indicates any suitable frame-work provided with the power pulley 2 loosely mount- Specification of Letters Patent.

- PatentedMay21, 1912;

Application filed May 8, 1911. Serial 1Y0. 625,888.

around its hub, adaptedto, receive the clutch member 5, and carried by the member 6 fast on said shaft 3, said members 5 and 6 being provided with the cam 7,. The clutch mem her or sliding dog 5 is normally held in engagement with'the slot thy means of the spring, 8 pressing at one end against'the bottom of a slot in said dog, and with its other end against a; pin 9 fitted to said slot and carried by the cam], as best shown in Fig. 4. Sliding in a portion of the frame-worki'lO under the control of the spring 11',- is the clutch operating pin 12. provided with a pivoted dog 13 engaged by the lever 14, coned on the shaft 3, provided with the slots 45 trolled by the spring 16 and pivoted as at 15 to the lug 17 attached to the frame-work. Thesaid lever 14 is connected by the link 18 to the foot lever '19, pivoted to the port-ion 10 of the framework as at 20. vThe said portion 10 carries a trip pin 21 [which is in the path of the cam 7, and when the lever 14, .under the, influence of the foot lever 19,

causes the dog 13 to be depressed, the said cam 7 turning in the direction of the'arrow shown In Fig. 3, forces said pin 21 downward, causes the same to take against the tail 25 of the said dog 13, to swing the same upon its pivot, and to thereupon disengage the said dog from the extreme end of the lever 14. W hen the said dog is disengaged as described, the spring 11 forcesitl e pin 1.2 upwardly and as soon as the operators foot is removed from the lever 19, the spring 16 returns the lever 14k to its position in ena ement 'witlrsaid do 13 as shown inb b Fig. 2. The head 27 of the said pin 12, as

best shown in Fig. '7, is provided with the cam portion 28 and the straight portion 29, while the sliding dog 5 is provided with a slot 30, the surface 31 of which engagessaid cam portion 28 as the member 6 revolves, and finally engages the straight portion 29 whereupon the said dog 5 is wholly di-sen-.

gaged from the slot 4 and the shaft 3 ceases to revolve. In other words, so longas' the operatordoes not depress the lever 19, the

sliding dog 5 rests against the straight portion 29 of the clutch operating member.27

and the power from the pulley 2 is cut ofi from the machine. On the other hand, if the operator depresses the foot lever 19', the 'clutch operating head 27 is also depressed thereupon disengaging the sliding dog 5, and permitting its spring 8 to drive it forarmy he held ward into engagement with a slot 4. T

course. causes the shaft 3 to be rotated from the pulley 9, but since the. pivot dog 13 is immediately disengaged from the lever 14, the head 27 is immediately returned to the position shown in Fig 2, and as the sliding member returns to its former position. it

becomes through the cam surface 28 automatically again disengaged tromthe slot 4. in other words, a depression of thefoot lever 11) will only *ause one revolution of the shaft 3 no matter h ow long the said lever depressed, and the said lever must be released and again depressed after each rotation of the shaft 3, if additional rotations are desired. i Rigid with the shaft 3 is the crank pin coacting with the connecting rod 36 carrying the cross piece 37 tOWVlllCll is attached the housing 38 having the slide 31) guided by the upper [)QlllOIldO ot the frame-work. The housing is preferably constructed as shown in Fig. 8 and is provided with the upper portion 4L1 closed as by the cap 42 and carries the spring 43, one end of which tits against said cap and the other end of which fits against the hollow piston like sleeve 4%, as best shown in Figs. 8 and 9. The said piston sleeve lit is provided with the slots -15, and its extreme lower end *6 fits against the upper end 47 of the sleeve 48 having the projecting port-ion 49 provided with the elongated slot 50, as'shown. Passing through the projecting portion 49 is the rod 51 to the upperscrew threaded end 52 of which. is fitted the cam member 53, having the straight surface 5-1 and the curved surface 55, as shown. This member 53 is adapted to slide u and down to a'liinited extent inside the s eeves 44 and 48, as best illustrated in Figs. l2.to 14. Against the straight surface 54 of the member 53 normally rest the toes 56 of the dogs 57 pivoted as at 58,'and controlled by the springs 59 Said dogs also have toes 60 which project through the slots 45 and rest against the extreme upper edge 47 of the sleeve 48, as shown. Surrounding thereduced port-ion 49 of the sleeve 48 is the sleeve 61 provided widi the slots 62 toform spring fingers 63. Between the said spring fingers and-the rod 51 is the spring 64 for the purpose to be dis. closed hereinafter. A pin 65 passes through the elongated slot 66 in the said rod 51 through the elongated slot 50 in the reduced portion 48 of thesleeve 1-8, and through the iole 67 of the sleeve 61 in order to slidingly hold the parts together.

(58 represents the usual spring controlled lingers for holding the bottle caps in place preparatory to being crimped upon the bottle head, and the extreme end of the rod 51 is preferably enlarged provided with aslight projection 70 for a purpose to he desnviho'd.

his of I force said dog inent with one of tli slots 4 in the hub 0t 38 has been depressed and as at 69 and may be capping head.

71 represents the usual guiding surface for the bottle head and 72 the cap in po-itiou upon the bottle 73.

75 represents-a bottle stand or suppor provided with a stem it passing througl the projection 7'? rigid with the framework and having the set or locking screw .7 The said stem 76 is provided. with the lugs 7.).and the said projection TI is prm'ided with a bayonet slot through which said lugs 79 are adapted to pass. (in each side of the slot 80, the projection 77 has the re 81 and 82, which are adapted to support the lugs 79 in their adjusted positions, and the enlargement ot the stem 76 adapted to rest also on the upper supports 81, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 15. That to say, the stem 76 may be supported in tln POSlilOIlS as follows-with the lugs 75 rest ing upon the supports 81; with the lugs it) resting upon the supports 82; and with the enlargen'lent 83 resting upon the supports 81, and each position of the support 5'5 is therefore adapted to acQoinnmdate a bottle of a diiterent length. The set screw 7s serves to lock the support 75 in any position to which it may be adjusted.

The operation of my machine is as toilows :A bottle being placed upon the stand 75, the operator depresses the lever 15?, and power being applied to the puliey 2, the said lever 1% through the connection '18 de-- presses the lever let, which pull; down the dog 13 and the pin .11", which in turn causes the head 27 to disengage the sliding dog and to thereupon permit the z- 'n'ing S to 5 forward and into engage the pulleyfi. The pulley being loose upon the shaft 3 and the member 6 hein g fast thereon, power is :uzcordingly transmitted to the shaft 3 which turns sufliciently to cause the cam 7 to depress the pin and lo thercupon disengage the dog 13 from the lever v 14. The spring 11 immediately returns the head 27 to its position shown in Fig. 2, whereupon its cam surface 28 shown in Fig. 7, engages the edge 31 of the dog 5 and causes the latter to pulley 2, and. therefore the power to be out off. In the meantime, however, the shaft has made one complete revolution and therofore the capping head including the housing returned to its raised position, and this notwithstanding the fact that the oj ieratofis foot may have remained upon the lever 19. When it is desired to cause the'said capping head to again reciprocate, it is essential that the toot be removed from the lever 19 so that the spring 16 may cause the automatic re'e ir gagenient of the lever 1st with the dog 13 whereupon a second depression of the lever 19 will cause a second reciprocation of the A bottle cap 72 having been int;

be disengaged'from the mam , placed. in position on the spring fingers 68 in the manner well known, the housing 38 de: scends and said cap 72 is slipped over the 69and projection 70, if such ,is employed, presses firmly on the cap 72 against the tension of the spring 64 until the inclined surfaces 90 between thetoes 56 and 60- of the dogs 57 strike the inclined cam surface 55 of the member In the meantime, the spring fingers 63 wipe down over the cap and force the same into firn'iengagement with the rim of the bottle mouth when the parts are-in the position best shown-in Fig.

12, and the capping operation is complete. This, however, supposes the bottle to. be of normal length, audit will be observed that in order for the spring fingers (33 to force the cap 72 into position over the bottle rim, it 'is necessary that said fingers should be carried by the casing 38 downwardly past the spring-pressed, head 3!). In order to accomplish this, the said fingers are secured to the sleeve 49 through the pin 65 and elongated slots '30 and (36, and the upper rim 4-7 of the enlapgg'edhleeve 48 is caught under the hook-like toes 60 of the dogs 57,

so that the said fingers 63 move downward with the dogs 57 while the rod 51 and head (59 remain stationary with the bottle head.

Should, however, a. bottle of abnormal length be placed upon the bottle support 75,

, then the same would be crushed unless some provision -is made to relieve the strain which would be brought upon said head by the continuing downward -mov'ement of the housing This strain is relieved in the ease of abnormally long bottles by the continued downward movement of the housing 38 andsleeve 31 bringing the pin 65 carried hysaid sleeve into engagement with the bottom 'ot' the slot 66 in the plunger 51. During this movement, the toes 56 of the dogs 57 engage the cam surfaces 55, and swing said dogs outwardly on their pivots 5-8 slllliciently to shift the toes 60, from engagement with the upper rim 47 ot' the sleeve 48; thereby releasing said sleeve 48, together with the crimping member 63, and allowing said member to remain stationary during further downward movement of the rasing 38. Upon the. return stroke of the capping head, all parts of course will be restored to their normal positions shown in Fig. 8. It will thus be seen that the open ator may hold the lever 19 depressed so long an abnormal length or not, during each reciprocation, provided of course a cap 72 is placed in position between the fingers 68 teatures except as may be required by the tles of a givensizfe at random, place them upon the support 75, and simply depress the lever 19 whenever he' wishes the bottles to becapped', and will have the assurance that the bottles will be automatically capped whether they are of uniform size or not.

When bottles of radically different sizes are to be capped, the operator merely unscrews-thesecuring' means 78, and so ad- ,justs th-e stem 7 6 as to accommodate the particular size of bottle to be operated upon. Il'e thereupon secures the stand 75 in place, and may then select the new size of bottles at random, whereupon the capping head will, in the manner above disclosed, cap all of the. said new sizes without regard to those of abnormal length. p

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and the arrangement of parts w 1thout departing from the spiritof my inyention, and I therefore 'I do not wish to be limited to such claims.

What I claimist 1. In a bottle capping machine, the combination of a capping housing, means for reciprocating said housing, crimping fingers slidabl y mounted in said housing, l0cl(- ing means for preventing sliding of said fingers, a capping plunger mounted for limited movement relative to said locked crimping fingers, and means agtuated'by said plunger for releasing said locking means to permit continued movement of said plunger relative to the housing.

2. In a bottle capping machine, the combination of a capping housing, means for reciprocating said housing, a sleeve shdably mounted in said housing, dogs for lockingly engaging said sleeve, a eappingplunger slidably mounted in said sleeve, a spring eon-. fined between said plunger and sleeve, and a. cam actuated by said plunger for releasing said dogs from locking engagement [with said slidably-mounted sleeve upon continued movement of said plunger.

' 3. In a bottle capping machine, the combination of a capping housing, means for reciprocating said housing, a sleeve shdably mounted in said housing, dogs tor lockingly engaging said sleeve,,'a capping plum-- ger slida ly mounted in sa d sleeve, :1 spring confined'b'e'tween said plunger and sleeve, acam' actuated by said plunger for releas ng said dogs from locking engagement w1th said slidably-mounted sleeve upon continued movement of said plunger, and a spring for resisting sliding of said sleeve release.

yieldinglj upon such e 4. In a bottle capping machine, the combination of a. ca ping housing, means for reciprocating Sai housing, a sleeve shdablv 13o mounted in said housing, dogs for lockingly engaging said sleeve spring fingers slidably supported on said sleeve, a spring-pressed nipping plunger, and a cam actuated by said plunger for releasing said dogs from lock ing engagement with said sleeve upon continued movement of. said plunger.

In a bottle capping machine provided with a reciprocating capping housin the combination of a. reciprocating capping plunger; a plurality of spring fingers surrounding said plunger: means for forcing said fingers to descend with said housing while permitting said plunger to remain stationary; and means for releasing said fingers after they have descended a predetermined distance, substantially as described.

6. In a bottle capping machine provided with a reciprocating capping'housing, the combination of a reciprocating capping plunger; afplurality of spring fingers surrounding said plunger; means comprising pivoted spring controlled dogs for forcing said fingers to descend with said housing while permitting said plunger to remain stationary; and means comprising a cam surface for moving said dogs after said lingers have descended a predetermined distance substantially as described.

7. In a bottle capping machine. the com bination of a capping plunger; means for crim iing a cap on a bottle head surrounding said plunger but adapted to move independently thereof; a sleeve provided with a holdingrim between said crimping means'and plunger adapted to impart. said independent 1 movement to said crimping means; a dog adapted to engage said run to move the same in one direction; and a cam associated with said dog adapted to force said dog out of engagement with said rim substantially as described.

8. In a bottle capping machine, the combination of a capping plunger having a slot; means for. crimping a cap on a bottle head surroumling said plungei a sleeve be tween said crimping means and plunger having a slot and provided with a holding rim a lapted to engage said crimping means; means passing through said slots for securing said crimping menus, sleeve and plunger together and for permitting a slight relative movement between said plunger and sleeve; a dog adapted to engage said rim and to 'iforce said crimping means into Operative relation with the-bottle cap; and a cam associated with said dog adapted to force said dog out of engagement with .said rim when said relative movement has taken place, substantially as described.

9. In a bottle capping head, the combina tion of a capping plunger; a crimping means associated with said plunger; :1 member having a straight and a cam surface assoti atedv with said plunger; a dog'having a toe coacting with said straight and cam surfaces; a sleeve surrounding said plunger and provided with a rim over which said dog is adapted to engage; and a conmi-cticn between said sleeve and plunger for permit ting a relative movementbetween said parts and permitting said cam to force said do; out of engagement. with said rim. substantially as described.

10. In a bottle capping head. the combination of a capping plunger; :1 memberhiv ing a straight and a cam surface associated with said plunger; a dog having a tee to acting with said straight and cam surface a sleeve surrounding said plunger and pro vided. with a rim over which said dog is adapted to engage; spring lingers Surrounth ing said sleeve and plunger adapted tocrinip a cap to a bottlc head; and a slot and pin connection between said sleeve and plunge! for permitting a relative movement between said parts and permitting said cam to force said dogout of engagement with said rim when a bottle of abnormal length is being capped, substantially as described.

' '11. in a bottle capping head. the combi nation of a capping plunger; a memberhaving a cam surface associated with said plunger; a dog associated with said cam surface; a spring for forcing said plunger in one direction; a sleeve having a member adapted to be engaged by said dog surrounding said plunger; a plurality of spring fingers surrounding said sleeve and plunger-and a dapted. to be moved in one direction by said dog and sleeve; and a second spring between said fingers and plunger. substantially as deseribed.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses:

THOliLiS J. LEVEY.

Witnesses JNo. H. FILLER, FRANK SLooUM. 

